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Kauai's Puakea Gives Golfers A Chance For 'Jurassic Park' Tee Time

Puakea Golf Course on Kauai served as the backdrop for the original Jurassic Park movie.

Erik Matuszewski

When we arrived at Puakea Golf Course on the Southeast side of Kauai, the early morning clouds hung low in the distance, cloaking the surrounds. When they lifted, it made the reveal that much more dramatic.

Sure, there’s a residential neighborhood off to the left of the first fairway, which is flanked on almost the entire right by a winding stream. There’s also a Costco that serves as a backdrop for the opening hole, just beyond the trees behind the green. But in the same way, the morning fog dissipated to unveil the jagged mountains that overlook the layout, the course slowly reveals its beauty.

Some of the views are stunning, even without the ocean nearby. Indeed, parts of the property at Puakea served as the background in the original Jurassic Park movie. On several of the holes, its easy to picture dinosaurs running (or lumbering) across an open plain with the soaring, lush Mt. Ha’upu rising up behind them.

Early morning clouds shroud Mt. Ha'upu at Puakea.

Erik Matuszewski

Make no mistake, this is a working man’s course, a public track built on 200 acres of historic property that was once a sugar cane plantation and is understandably popular with the locals. And General Manager Dan Urwiler and his crew were working feverishly when we arrived. He had learned the night before about the widespread recall of a small part – a spring – that affected almost every cart in Puakea’s fleet. No carts means almost no revenue for a daily fee course like Puakea, so at 5 o’clock that particular morning, Urwiler – who spent 17 years as the course’s superintendent -- woke up his service rep in the Hawaiian islands with a phone call, greeting him with a friendly, “Eh braddah,” before requesting the necessary replacement parts.

There was no “island time” at Puakea on this particular morning. The parts were put on the first plane out from nearby Oahu and, while waiting for the shipment to arrive, Urwiler and his team prepared by removing the floor panels and the recalled springs on every cart -- save for a few older ones that we were able to use as the first group out.

Puakea was built by Robin Nelson, a golf course architect who has worked on almost one-third of... [+] Hawaii's courses.

Erik Matuszewski

Several holes into our round, the clouds had moved up toward the top of the mountain. The first few holes at Puakea wind through homes that seem to get progressively newer. And by the sixth hole, a dramatic downhill par-3 to a small green surrounded by jungle and backed by the mountain, you could be forgiven for thinking there might be dinosaurs somewhere just beyond the trees. In fact, the green is set so far down that when putting out you can’t even see the mountain.

The downhill par-3 sixth hole offers a dramatic backdrop.

Erik Matuszewski

After the 10th hole, golfers cross a road and are greeted by a breathtaking par-5 with a split fairway and a different feel from the holes that preceded it. The mountains loom to the right, even closer now, and the reddish tinged bunkers that surround the green stare back at golfers in the fairway.

The par-5 11th hole at Puakea.

Erik Matuszewski

Thus begins a terrific stretch of remote holes (11 through 16) that transport the golfer deeper into that Jurassic Park setting before finishing with a long par-4 (the 17th) and a strong finisher in the par-5 18th that turns back toward the clubhouse. That clubhouse, incidentally, is relatively simple and straightforward, with a small restaurant and a local feel that befits the vibe at Puakea. It’s also where we found the course’s cart fleet back in working order, a testament to Urwiler and his crew.

Many visitors to the Garden Isle might be staying closer to the resort golf courses, but they’d be well-suited to take a side jaunt to Puakea to experience a course with a wonderfully different feel… and look.

I’ve spent more than two decades in journalism, writing about sports and its prominent intersection with the business world while covering just about every major sporting

…

I’ve spent more than two decades in journalism, writing about sports and its prominent intersection with the business world while covering just about every major sporting event: Super Bowls, the World Series, the NBA and NHL Finals, the Olympics and golf’s major championships. I’ve played video games with NFL stars, golf in the shadow of the Great Wall in China and dug into the batter’s box at Yankee Stadium. My passion is golf, which has led me to drive 20 straight hours to make a tee time in Florida, crisscross the country to play two U.S. Open venues in consecutive days on opposite coasts, and travel to China to play Pine Valley since I’ve never teed it up at the celebrated one in New Jersey, despite spending my entire life in the state. I'm fortunate enough to be immersed in golf as editorial director for the National Golf Foundation, the industry's leading provider of research (all the data that helps businesses in golf succeed). I still live in the Northeast, where I’m doing my part to grow the game of golf with my three kids, and am always looking to find someone in the world of sports with a compelling story or positive message. Know a person or company like that? I’d love to hear about it. Let me know by dropping me an email (ematuszewski24@gmail.com) or reach me on Twitter at @ematuszewski.